My oldest son’s girlfriend had a birthday yesterday, and what she really wanted (other than to get carded at the bar) was a peanut butter cup cheesecake. Now my oldest son is hardly a cook – he basically eats white food only – and he’s certainly not a baker. But see what romance can inspire? He spent the afternoon in the kitchen with me yesterday baking this for his girl. Aw, sweet, right?! We made a simple crust out of crushed chocolate graham crackers and butter and pressed that into a springform pan.Next, we whipped up cream cheese that was at room temperature……then whipped in a can of sweetened condensed milk.The batter should be perfectly smooth like this.After nearly starting a fire by trying to melt chocolate in the microwave (I should know better!) we did it properly over a hot water bath on the stove.When it’s completely smooth like this it gets whipped into the cheesecake mixture……followed by eggs, beaten in one at a time.Finally, we folded in the quartered mini Reese’s peanut butter cups……saving a few to adorn the top. I’m sorry I can’t share the final product, as my son took it with him as soon as he pulled it out of the oven. But he did text me a photo late last night showing the cheesecake unmolded and decorated with a some chocolate syrup drizzled back and forth over the top – cute! I managed to download my son’s photo from his phone to touch up a bit -it’s not he greatest photo, but you get the idea of how it looked – and I hope he earned a few points with his girlfriend!

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Fill a pan with hot water and put it in the oven on the bottom rack. Line the bottom of a spring-form pan with foil, then wrap the pan up the sides in foil to ensure no cheesecake leaks out while cooking. Combine cracker crumbs with melted butter and sugar, stir together, then press into the pan, coming just slightly up the edges with the crumbs. Beat cream cheese until soft and fluffy; add milk and beat until incorporated. Add melted chocolate and beat until smooth, then add eggs one at a time, beating until well blended. Fold in all but 1/2 cup of the peanut butter cups then pour into the prepared spring-form pan. Dot the top of the cheesecake with remaining peanut butter candies and bake for 60-70 minutes, until cake is set (center may remain a bit wiggly but will firm up as it cools). Cool completely and refrigerate before cutting.